Dangerous Games
by Razoxanne
Summary: This season Elise isn't feeling herself and then things go from bad to worse. Meant to take place the year after SSX on Tour as an alternative reality to SSX Blur I suppose.
1. Chapter 1

A hoarse groan escaped from Elise's lips as she rolled over onto her side and propped herself up using one hand. She gazed about groggily, lifting her free hand to shield her eyes from the streak of brilliant morning sunshine filtering into the room through a long vertical slit in the curtains, and tried to gain a grip of her surroundings. After a few seconds her eyes adjusted to the bright light and, smoothing a lock of tangled golden hair back from her face she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, inadvertently sending several glass bottles clinking across the wood-panelled floor with her feet. Dropping her head to her hands, she closed her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingers, trying to soothe away the mish mash of jumbled memories fogging her mind, whilst praying that despite all the evidence to the contrary it hadn't happened again. Steeling herself she looked down over her shoulder and her eyes fell to a sleeping figure sprawled out beside her on the double bed. Several winding dragon tattoos, interlaced here and there with leering skulls snaked their way up his bare arms and chest. His eyes were tightly shut beneath the mass of overhanging green spikes that was his hair. A wave of regret and self-disgusted surged through her. She had promised herself that the last time was just that: the last; she couldn't understand why this kept on happening. Obviously alcohol had, as usual, played a large role, and by the looks of things and the pounding headache that just started up in her head, she had hit the bottle pretty hard, yet even so, she normally found it unbearable just being in the same room as Psymon. Everything about him repulsed her - his insolent attitude, his punk rock style, but here she was again waking up beside him and from the satisfied smile on his face and the mess of twisted bedcovers, there was no second-guessing what had gone on.

Still slightly intoxicated from the night before, Elise stood up and clumsily began collecting up her clothes from there where they had been haphazardly strewn about the room. She got dressed as quickly as she could manage, desperate to flee the scene, cursing under her breath as she fell over a couple of times as she hastily pulled on her trousers. After several minutes of frantic searching she finally managed to locate her shoes under a nearby table and, snatching up her bag, she pushed though the bedroom door out into the hotel corridor beyond. She was extra careful to close the door quietly shut behind her, yet nonetheless, she had only taken a few paces when she heard the click of the door as it swung back open and the familiar cocky tones of Psymon's voice echoing loudly down the corridor after her: 'Hey babe, leaving already?'. Elise bit her lip and hoped that everyone was already downstairs at breakfast and wouldn't hear the noise. She reluctantly turned round to see Psymon shamelessly standing butt naked in his hotel room doorway and, as she did so, unwelcome memories of their earlier fervent exertions together came flooding back. Throwing him a look of utter revulsion she spun on her heel and wordlessly continued on her way. 'Yeah well you'll be back, ain't nobody can give it like ol' Psymon' he jeered and she heard the door click shut.

Her head still throbbing, Elise made her way slowly towards the elevators. Suddenly she staggered forwards as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her, causing her to loose her balance. She instinctively reached out for the nearest thing to steady herself. 'Watch it' Skye reproached her, shoving her off with a frown, then, noticing Elise's dishevelled state, her voice softened. 'Hey, are you ok?' she asked. The Australian's nasal accent aggravated her and usually she would have taken pleasure in telling Skye where she could stick it, but in her current state she just wasn't able to muster up her usual gusto, in fact it seemed an impossible struggle just to keep her emotions under control; she was so tired of pretending that everything was fine. Closing her eyes and wishing that she could forget everything that had happened in her life recently Elise reached out a shaky hand to steady herself against the wall, a single tear sliding down her cheek. 'Hey, it's ok' Skye comforted, taking hold of Elise's arm and patting it gently, 'come on let's get you back to your room'.Wiping away the tear with the sleeve of her jacket, Elise allowed Skye to help her back to the fifth floor, handing over her keycard so that Skye could unlock the door.

Once inside Elise flopped down on the couch as Skye confidently made her way into the small ensuite kitchen and filled up the kettle. Leaving it to boil, she came back and took a seat next to the blonde haired Canadian. 'Listen, I know it's been a tough but you can't do this to yourself,' she said earnestly. Convinced that Skye had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, Elise shot her an irritate look which Skye ignored and carried on. 'I've been there myself, I know what it's like to feel like your life is falling apart when your parents divorce' she said frankly. At the mention of the dreaded d-word Elise flinched, unable to stop all the feelings of helplessness and despair it brought with it; feelings she had desperately strived to suppress for the past few months. Her hands were trembling again and she was suddenly both annoyed and scared because she could no longer recognise herself; she used to be so self-assured, so confident, but now a vulnerability had overtaken her that she just couldn't seem to shake off. 'It must be that much harder when it's publicly splashed across all the tabloids' Skye acknowledged and Elise couldn't disagree with her there. Being the daughter of the prominent Canadian politician she had gotten used to, even come to relish, life in the public eye, but this was different. Now that it was about matter close to the heart the publicity she craved had become a nightmare and she had been finding the whole affair incredibly strenuous and heart-wrenching; especially when the press appeared to glean such malicious joy in regularly expounding preposterous rumours of her father's tirade of secret foreign lovers, which had in turn led to more litigation procedures.

Reaching out Skye took the other girl's pale unsteady hands in her own, 'look, I know it's hard to believe now, but you'll get through it, I promise,' she gave an encouraging smile, 'but it's going to take time… and drinking yourself into a stupor every other night and then jumping into bed with Psymon isn't going to solve anything'. Elise swallowed and lowered her eyes to the carpeted floor. 'You know?' she asked meekly. 'Yeah pretty much everyone on the circuit knows, but don't worry - Kaori warned everyone that if anyone dared open their mouths to the reporters she would personally shove her board through their head.' At this Elise couldn't help but give a small smile. 'I always thought you loathed Psymon, how did it happen?' Skye enquired, eyeing Elise curiously.

There was silence as Elise thought back to the night a few weeks back when they had all first arrived at the hotel for some pre-event freeriding to sound out the courses and prepare for the qualifying runs. By the second night she had gotten so exasperated by the heavy metal music continually pounding up through the floorboards of her room that after a few Martini's she had resolved to go down there and throw the offending stereo out the window, along with anyone who happened to stand in her way. Only, she had found Psymon, fresh out the shower with a skimpy little pink handtowel wrapped about his waist; a sharp contrast to his usual bad-boy attire. After she had got over the initial shock of discovering that Psymon actually washed, the sight of him had made her laugh for the first time in what had seemed like ages. However, she had stopped abruptly when he had whipped the towel off and she had discovered that while mother nature may not have made him completely right in the head, she had obviously made up for it elsewhere. It shouldn't have happened but she had let it. Her fans called her the Angel of the North, yet she had been more than happy to loose herself in the carnal sensations of the moment; anything to take her mind off her parent's separation. 'I wasn't thinking straight' was all she finally offered Skye by way of explanation.

Sensing that she might have overstepped the mark, Skye jumped up and walked back into the kitchen, 'tea or coffee?' she shouted from the other room. 'Coffee, black, with a couple of aspirin would be nice. There should be a packet on the counter somewhere' Elise called. 'No problem – any sugar?' Skye asked loudly. 'No thanks' Elise yelled back, clasping her forehead and hoping that that Skye would hurry up and get back so they could stop all the shouting. Reappearing back in the bedroom, Skye handed over the drink and the tablets and gave Elise a quick look up and down. 'Tell you what why don't I run you a bath?' she offered candidly.

* * *

Stretched out in the tub, Elise let herself doze in the warm water, the foamy bubble bath lapping at her skin. She was glad the first SSX event wasn't until the following morning as it meant that apart from a short corporate video conference in the early afternoon she was free to spend the rest of day lazing about. She knew that she probably should be out on the slopes, squeezing in some last minute practice like the others were doubtless doing, but she just didn't feel up to it as she was; most of her energy was gone, spent between the sheets during the small hours of the morning. Elise sighed. Allegra had been right about one thing; Psymon was an absolute animal in bed. 


	2. Chapter 2

The billowing snowstorm that had raged throughout the night had lifted by morning and the sun's glowing rays lit up the mountainside with a dazzling whiteness. Elise had woken up early, eager to get warmed up before the first boardercross event of the tournament. As she emerged from the hotel she pulled on her sunglasses to dampen the glare and, securing her board on her back, she made her way towards the gondola station. Once safely aboard she sat down, basking in the warm sunlight streaming in through the windows and surveyed the smallish coloured blobs that were people descending the public runs in winding trails far below. After a good night's sleep she was feeling more positive and ready to defend her reputation as one of the finest racers on the circuit. Racing had always been her event and during her long successful career few had managed to pip her to the post. In recent times Griff, whom everyone referred to as 'that hyperactive teenager from hell', had come close, but for some reason he had unexpectedly pulled out this year (Elise had wondered if it had something to do with puberty), and so the biggest danger to her this season was Kaori, who, like her, was sleek and aerodynamic and built for speed. She would, of course, be competing in the freestyle events as well but didn't hold out for much because although she was good and had solid style, she knew that she would be hard pressed to match the force of Mac and Psymon. Mac was forever inventing mindboggling new tricks to pull off and Psymon, well, he could happily fling himself off the steepest precipice stringing together insane trick combos without batting an eyelid.

The gondola shuddered to a halt, jolting Elise back to her immediate surroundings. Leaving the station she moved to a clear patch to remove her board, and started warming up. Once satisfied that she was ready she snapped her boots in and with a rush of excitement took off down the mountain. She had deliberately taken the cable car up to the backcountry so that she could board her way down to the start gate and she was soon weaving her way expertly through the pine trees, rocks and other general hazards. Elise had made it over half the way down the black diamond run when she became suddenly aware of someone shadowing her, but before she had the chance to react, two hands griped her on either side of her waist. 'What the - ?' she protested, craning her neck round to see who it might be but was cut off by a deep voice she recognised almost instantaneously: 'In fine form I see, Elise.' The compliment was unusual coming from him. 'Nate, let go of me!' she admonished, trying her best to shake him off in vain as he clung on obstinately, keeping his riding in perfect sync with hers. 'Say girl, why you want to spend time with that doofus Psymon when you do so much better?' he drawled over her shoulder. Elise rolled her eyes and again attempted to elbow him away. 'What like you? Sorry honey but I'd sooner lock lips with a Yeti,' she rebuffed him curtly, unimpressed with his advances. 'Ouch, feisty, I like it,' came Nate's brisk rejoinder and then the hairs on the back of her neck stood automatically on end as he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. 'Sweet, sweet Elise' he hissed, taking her words as his own, and giving her hips a squeeze.

A sudden burning rage engulfed her at his gall and with a sharp jerk she spun around, kicking up a large cloud of white powdery snow as she came to an abrupt halt. She watched fuming as Nate swerved uncontrollably to one side and then managed to recover himself. Looking back he gave her a mocking salute and carried on down the mountain. After waiting several minutes, Elise continued down after him.

By the time Elise made it to the start gates all the other competitors were already there. She briefly acknowledged Kaori, Zoe and Mac but chose to totally ignore Psymon and Nate, preferring instead to study her nails. A few minutes later they were summoned to the starting gates over the loudspeakers. Taking up central position Elise felt in her element. It was only the first heat but she still felt the buzz of electrifying excitement. She held her breath in anticipation for the green light and when it finally flashed up she tore out of the gate, focused and determined. After the usual initial jockeying for position Elise took up a comfortable lead it was only a few minutes rush of adrenaline later that she was flying past the finish line to thunderous applause, feeling extremely pleased with herself – she still had it. Several seconds later she was somewhat surprised to see Nate ride in second with Kaori arriving hot on his heels, who was in turn closely followed by Zoe. She had just removed her board and was contemplating heading towards the stands to oblige her fans with a few autographs when a roar from the crowd made her turn around and she caught sight of Psymon and Mac lurching into view down the last straight.

She watched as Mac hurtled wildly around the last bend, narrowly missing the trunk of a massive fir. She noted with a certain foreboding the petrified expression plastered across his face and noticed him glance back at Psymon a few metres behind to shout something and strained her ears to listen, but the words were drowned out by the cheering of the crowd. She gasped as Psymon let out a roar and engaged an amazing burst of speed, catching up with Mac just as he took off the last jump. One of the spectators screamed as Psymon dived and grabbed Mac round the legs, bringing them both plummeting back to earth, landing with a heavy dull thump on the compacted snow. Psymon, clearly enraged, began viciously attacking Mac, who was holding his arms to his face in a desperate attempt to shield himself from the onslaught and winced as the Pysmon broke through Mac's defences and landed a particularly nasty punch.

'SECURITY, SECURITY!' the loudspeakers screamed and Elise stepped aside as a burly man in a black suit sprinted out onto the course and yanked Psymon up, slamming him bodily up against the wire mesh fence bordering the course, restraining him from behind with an arm lock. Elise saw Mac sit up and wipe away a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth and noticed that his left eye was red and swollen. Picking up a towel, she ran out to help, but was surprised by Mac roughly pushing her hand away. 'Stay away from me' he spat, 'and tell your psycho boyfriend that whatever he's heard that I'm not your toyboy on the side… maybe he'll listen to you' 'What?' For a few seconds Elise couldn't comprehend what she had just heard. Then the towel slipped from her fingers the words finally sunk in and she looked across at Psymon who was now sitting on the ground glaring daggers at Mac. Scarcely managing to keep her fury in check she stormed up to him, 'What the hell is wrong with you? What were you thinking?' she demanded scathingly. Psymon glared up at her coldly, 'Wasn't I enough for you? Why Mac? He's pathetic!' Psymon tried to clamber up onto his feet but was forced back down by the burly guard pushing him down by the shoulders. In that instant it dawned on Elise that their relationship – if could be called that – obviously meant quite a lot more to Psymon then he had been prepared to let on; especially if he was prepared to risk his place in the tournament over it. She didn't know what annoyed her the most: that he had fallen for her or that he had the gall to assault Mac. 'Are you crazy? Where on earth did you get that idea?' she demanded looking Psymon straight in the eye, but he refused to say anymore as a couple more guards arrived and he was hauled away to the exit.

* * *

That evening Elise shunned the usual line up of bars and clubs, not wanting to risk the chance of bumping into Psymon; not yet ready to face the daunting task of explaining that, for her at least, their relationship spanned just one level: physical, and that even that had been one big mistake. Secretly she was worried that Psymon might lose it and do something crazy like when Allegra had finished with him. For the umpteenth time she mentally kicked herself for having allowed something to happen between them in the first place. Then, after pouring the contents of the mini bar down the sink to avoid temptation, she settled down for a night in with her favourite DVD's. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day no one was surprised to learn that Mac had made an official appeal to the SSX adjudicators, asking for a rerun of yesterday's boadercross heat. The officials had briefly convened to approve his request and had also decided to disqualify Psymon; taking the further step of banning him from all future race events for the season. Since the next few days had already been reserved for the Big Air qualifier rounds the rerun of the heat had been rescheduled for later on that week. Elise had checked the Big Air qualifier listings a few days prior and knew she had to be at the track early as she was up third, after Mac and Allegra.

A freezing wind was blowing and Elise exhaled on her cupped hands, trying to keep them from going numb. As she approached the warm-up area near the starting gate she spied Mac sitting down on a bench to one side, watching her with a mixture of apprehension and animosity. His left eye was no longer puffy, however, the skin around it had turned dark blue, which had the effect of making him look rather sinister. Elise didn't bother greeting him and, sticking to the far corner of the area, she slowly started stretching. It wasn't long before Allegra swaggered coolly into the vicinity in her baggy hipsters, one hand holding onto her board which she balanced precariously over her shoulder; the other clutching a can of Pepsi. Allegra pretended not to notice Elise. Turning her back on the Canadian without any acknowledgment whatsoever, she let her board slip to the ground and perched cross-ledged on the bench near Mac. 'Feeling better today then?' she asked him. 'Been better' Mac replied, distinctly sounding less upbeat than normal. After noisily slurping down the last few drops of her drink, Allegra tossed the can high over her shoulder with a loud burp. The can ricocheted off the wall with a reverberating metallic twang and narrowly missed Elise, who looked up scornfully.

'Hey, Isn't that you're new board?' Allegra asked, 'I thought you were going to wait until you had had a bit more time to practice on it?' Elise looked up and followed Allegra's gaze to a board propped up against the wall, totally black apart from several bright florescent orange streaks running down it lengthwise. 'I was, but I can't find my other one anywhere' Mac replied dourly. 'What do you mean?' Allegra enquired. 'Well I kind of left it in the hotel's ski equipment room overnight -' 'OH MY GOD!' Allegra interrupted loudly looking scandalised '…you did what?' Mac looked sheepish. 'I couldn't be bothered to cart it all the way upstairs …' he explained miserably ' …and when I got down this morning it wasn't there - I reckon someone must have pinched it, probably some lame groupee who wanted to do something stupid like hang it on their wall… so I've got no choice but to use that one' Mac said, peeking nervously over at the new board.

They all clapped their hands to their ears as suddenly a piercingly shrill screech of noise burst from the loudspeakers. 'Sorry' an anonymous voice apologised a few seconds later. After a few minutes they gauged it safe to remove their hands and listened as the long list of competitor's names taking part in the morning qualifiers was read out. At the end, a call rang out asking for the first rider to get ready and Mac picked up his board, strapped in his boots and rode to the starting ledge. 'Good luck' yelled Allegra, at the top of her lungs, as he zoomed off.

As Elise had feared, as soon as Mac was out of the way, Allegra rounded on her. 'I see your mother won the villa in St Tropez, you'll have to give her my congratulations' she goaded, sauntering over to where Elise was warming up, the edges of her mouth curling into a sneer. Elise's jaw went rigid; the last thing she wanted was another run in with Allegra, and even though she wanted nothing more than to pound the smirk off Allegra's face, she willed herself to stay calm, her face becoming a deceptive mask of impassivity behind which her true emotions raged. Allegra looked disappointed, clearly dissatisfied that her remark had failed to elicit a reaction. Undaunted, she circled closer. 'So tell me, is it true what they're saying?' she asked snidely as the tension between them reached to a crescendo. Elise knew Allegra was toying with her, she wasn't going to make it easy, 'about what?' she asked airily, stretching down to touch her toes and acting as if she didn't have the faintest clue what Allegra was on about. 'You know, that you're rattling the bedposts with Psymon,' Allegra answered bluntly. Her façade of indifference crumbling, Elise felt the heat rush to her cheeks; Allegra had a habit of always being unpleasantly direct. 'Because if I remember correctly last year you were convinced that - how did you put it? Oh yeah - only a "desperate loser" would allow a monster like Psymon to touch them,' she continued icily.

Elise had no trouble in recalling the incident in question. At the time she had been mercilessly taunting Allegra about her ongoing fling with Psymon and her last remark had wound the younger girl up so much that she had aimed a right hook straight at her head. Fortunately, Elise had managed to duck the blow, however, a reporter had been present at the time and the story had been splashed across all the tabloids the next day. Allegra had been livid since she had consequently been dumped from a lucrative sponsorship deal, but had taken revenge by 'accidentally' spilling a bottle of permanent blue hair dye over her in the changing rooms. Elise had been forced to cancel a whole fortnight of photo shoots and board meetings. Ever since then they had despised each other with a venomous ferocity. 'Back off Allegra' she warned, her voice wavering despite her best efforts to sound threatening. Allegra laughed realising that the impossible had happened; SSX's resident ice queen had thawed, exposing a fail, sensitive side, ripe for the attack. Meanwhile, Elise had just opened her mouth to change the subject by taking a cheap shot at Allegra's sense of style, or rather lack thereof, when a panicked voice came over the loudspeaker 'EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE!' Both girls glanced up at a flat panel monitor positioned and what Elise saw made her stomach churn. The camera was fixed on a crumpled form lying in a ditch beside some rocks at the bottom of the final jump, one foot still attached to a black and orange streaked board. She felt her throat go dry; it was Mac and he was clearly unconscious. It wasn't possible to tell how badly he was injured but she could tell by the way it was snapped back at an impossible angle from his body that at least one of his legs was broken. Elise watched, rooted to the spot as Mac, still unconscious, was lifted onto a stretcher by the paramedics and carted off to an awaiting helicopter.

It wasn't until the afternoon when Elise was back in her hotel room, still feeling shaken by what she had witnessed, that the police detective, who later identified himself as detective constable Callory, knocked on the door and asked if she would be willing to answer some questions. She had realised with a sickening jolt that if there was a police investigation then Mac's fall probably wasn't just accident as she had naively presumed.

She had let him in, prepared to do her best to help, even though she was sure she would not have seen or heard anymore than anyone else who had been at the track at the time. However, after a half an hour of answering the same questions over and over, Elise was starting to get frustrated.

'So Miss Riggs, you are certain that Mac was the only person there when you arrived?'

'Yes, just Mac' Elise confirmed, fidgeting impatiently with a straggly thread that had come loose from the armchair of the sofa.

'And you didn't see anyone else coming or going?' Callory questioned for what seemed to Elise the hundredth time, whilst jotting down a few words on his notepad.

'No… I already told you, when I got there Mac was the only person there' she replied heatedly.

The detective raised his eyebrows at her tone but pressed on without comment. 'And Allegra?'

'She arrived around five minutes after I did - please, you have to tell me, is Mac going to be ok?' she asked, not being able to hold back her question any longer.

'Miss Riggs - may I remind you that I am the one asking the questions here' the detective replied staunchly and Elise unconsciously clenched and unclenched her fists with exasperation. However, after a bit more scribbling with his pen, he acquiesced. 'Mr Fraser's critical but stable – he should be fine.' Elise exhaled with relief at the good news. Flipping his black leather notepad shut the detective pulled out a couple of photographs from his top jacket pocket.

'Can you identify this person?' he enquired, passing the pictures across to her.

By the grainy quality of the picture and date and time stamps in the corner, Elise realised that they were CCTV stills. In both pictures there was a person - by his build evidently an adult male. She couldn't tell who it was because he was wearing sunglasses with his hood of his jumper pulled down over his head, but there was no mistaking Psymon's unconventional dress sense.

'It looks like Pysmon' she murmured, gazing at the image.

'Last name?' the detective prompted.

'Stark…what does this mean?' she asked, passing the stills back.

'Miss Riggs, may I emphasise how important this investigation is; we have substantial reason to believe that Mackenzie Fraser was the victim of an act of sabotage, maybe even attempted murder.' Detective Callory paused to emphasise the seriousness of the situation.

'I understand that Mr Stark assaulted Mr Fraser yesterday morning?

'It was just a silly misunderstanding' Elise objected.

'Would you care to elaborate?'

_No, not really_, Elise thought glumly, but she obliged him anyway. 'Somehow Psymon got it into his thick skull that Mac and I were…' her voice trailed off as she didn't know how to finish the sentence.

'I see' Callory acknowledged disdainfully, irritating Elise by making a quick note with his pen. 'A possible motive' he muttered thoughtfully to himself whilst writing.

'But we weren't' Elise protested hastily, 'and anyway, Psymon would never go as far as murder.' Elise knew that Psymon was impulsive and brash with a fiery temper but they all had an aspect of that in their personalities, it came with the SSX territory. She just couldn't believe that Psymon would be capable of carrying out such a cold calculated act, it just wasn't his style.

Detective Callory just shook his head dismissively. 'Miss Riggs, if you knew how many times I've heard that in my line of work'

'Can't you just call me Elise for once?' she snapped back, fed up with his condescending manner.

At this Callory rose to his feet, returning the notepad and pen to his jacket pocket. 'Right, well, thank you for your time, if you do happen to think of anything that may help our investigation please be sure to give me a call,' and handing over his card, he left Elise to mull over their conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning happened to be one of those extremely rare occasions when Elise managed to get downstairs in time to catch breakfast. At the cereal bar she bumped into an Moby who was excitedly telling anyone who would listen that he had witnessed Psymon being arrested the previous evening. Moby had been hanging out in the lobby when Psymon had crashed out of the stairwell at full pelt, chased closely by two police officers. Moby recounted how Psymon had apparently been glancing behind at his pursuers when he had tripped up on a chair and gone flying and landed a few metres away, sprawled out on the floor looking dazed. The cops had immediately leapt on top of him, cuffing and then bundling him into an awaiting car whilst Psymon had screamed that he'd done nothing wrong. Moby also explained how he had gone upstairs to find the police searching Psymon's room and seen them remove what he recognised as Mac's old board, some tools and a rucksack stuffed full of clothes. He enthusiastically related his conviction that Psymon had stolen Mac's old board, because the new one was much more complicated and easier to sabotage.

Moby, it seemed, had already concluded that Psymon was irrefutably guilty. Conversely, Elise hadn't wanted to think about it; hadn't wanted to consider the possibility that Psymon could have stooped to such a low act; or maybe it was because she didn't want to believe she could have shared a bed with an potential murderer. After all, there was no question that if Mac hadn't missed the rocks by the few inches he did then he would have died the other day. However, try as she might she found it impossible to prevent these, and other similarly disturbing thoughts, from running endlessly through her mind and finally she knew she had to seek clarity. It was for that reason that she found herself walking down the banal, cheerless corridors of the police remand centre, the jangling of her nerves resonating with the rattling metal gates as they rolled open to let her pass. A helpful guard directed her to a table in the middle of the room where she sat down and it wasn't long before Psymon appeared. She hadn't known what to expect but definitely hadn't counted upon the scarcely recognisable Pysmon that shuffled into the room. His bright clothes gone, he looked dull and miserable. He looked scruffier than usual; his hair was knotted and dark shadows circling his eyes.

'Hi' Elise tried to say, her mouth forming the words but emitting only a barely audible squeak.

Psymon fixed her with his piercing grey eyes and she noticed they were bloodshot. Seeing him like this, she would have paid his bail, but since he resisted arrest but since he had resisted arrest no bail had been posted. Without warning he reached across the table, clasping her hands in his vice tight grip, making her wince. 'You've got to get me out of here, I ain't done nothing wrong' he implored. A small part of Elise felt relieved; it was what she had wanted to hear, want she desperately wanted to believe, but the thinking, rational part of her remained unconvinced.

'Psymon, how can you be innocent? They found Mac's board in your room, and what about the CCTV images?' she asked.

Psymon eyes darted briefly around the room as if hoping to find the answer scrawled across one of its whitewashed walls, then came back to rejoin her gaze. 'I don't know, I wasn't anywhere near the Big Air event that day… you've got to believe me, it wasn't me' he reiterated forcefully. Elise hesitated, still unsure; Psymon clearly believed what he was saying.

'But how -?'

'Someone set me up' Psymon croaked wretchedly.

Elise frowned, peering at him. 'But who would do that?' she wondered aloud.

'I don't know, but you have to find out so I can get out of here' he urged, his voice pleading.

Elise hadn't stayed for much longer, Psymon had just kept on repeating that she had to find out who had framed him, but had offered no useful information or leads as to who might be. After leaving the police station Elise had gone to see Detective Callory with her reservations over Psymon's guilt, but had found herself slamming up against a brick wall. She was hardly surprised though, all the evidence they had collated incriminated Psymon as the sole perpetrator. So she had gone back to her hotel room and did what she normally did when she needed time to think things through: take a shower.

Standing under the hot spray she racked her brain for at least half an hour trying to think of anyone who might hold enough of a grudge against Psymon to frame him for attempted murder, but came up blank. Finally she gave up and stepped out of the cubicle and turned off the shower. As soon as she did so she heard someone knocking impatiently at the front door and swiftly pulled on her dressing gown. 'Who is it?' she called, picking up a smaller towel and wrapping it around her damp hair. 'It's me, Kaori!' replied the high pitched voice from the corridor outside. Elise kicked herself; with all that had gone on it had totally slipped her mind that earlier on in the week she had arranged with Kaori to go to the theatre.

Elise went over and opened the door and found the dark-haired Japanese girl standing beside a steel dining trolley upon which sat a dome-lidded silver platter and ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne. 'Did you order something?' Kaori asked, peering questioningly down at the trolley. 'It finally got here then' Elise said with a huff and, grabbing hold of one end, Kaori helped her pull the trolley inside. Once back inside Elise lifted the dome lid to reveal a steaming pale yellow omelette garnished with a spring of parsley. She stared at it for a few seconds because slamming the steel lid down back down, making Kaori jump, 'those imbeciles, you'd think that they'd be able to get a simple order right!' 'What's wrong?' Kaori asked, removing the lid to look down curiously at the food. 'These aren't the right mushrooms!' Elise huffed, folding her arms. 'What do you mean 'not the right mushrooms'? Mushrooms are mushrooms, right?' Kaori asked, a puzzled expression spreading across her face.

'I specifically asked for portabello mushrooms! I can't eat this!' Kaori opened her mouth to gape in amazement and Elise realised she might be sounding just a teensy bit snobbish, but she was convinced that it wasn't her fault that she had spent most of her life living in luxury and so had come to expect nothing less than perfection, she could just blame that on her parents. 'You're not just going to let it go to waste?' Kaori asked, still looking stunned. 'No, of course not,' Elise reassured her, 'I'll drink the champagne,' and her eyes twinkling, she snatched up the chilled bottle and scampered off with it into the kitchen.

A few seconds later Kaori heard a loud pop and a delighted giggle. She picked up a fork and speared a few of mushrooms from the omelette then lifted them to her mouth. 'They taste fine to me' she called out with a confused shrug, then quickly rushed over to grab hold of the champagne when Elise reappeared, downing it straight from the bottle. 'Listen, why don't you go easy on that' she advised. Elise made a gurgling sound of protestation but relinquished her hold, allowing Kaori to carry the bottle back into the kitchen and pour them both a small glass instead. Taking a gulp for her glass, Elise moved into the bedroom and started rummaging about for something to wear.

Knowing that Elise might be a while, Kaori turned on the radio and the room was promptly filled with the blaring manic tones of the season's new resident DJ: DJ Afrodizziak. However, she turned it off again after only a few minutes, no longer being able to stand the din, and wandered out onto the balcony to gaze out at the spellbinding neon lights of Metro City. She had just retreated back into the warmth when Elise re-emerged from her bedroom, now fully dressed in a white top, blue trousers and black leather jacket, her long blonde hair now pulled back into a sleek ponytail.

'Right, we better get moving if we want to get good seats' Kaori urged, glancing down her watch. As if on cue a loud rumble erupted from Elise's stomach and she rubbed a hand over her centre. 'I'm hungry' she moaned. Kaori nodded towards the omelette still sitting on the trolley, 'hurry up then' she prodded. However, Elise took one quick look at the now luke-warm omelette and grimaced, 'Any chance of picking some food up on the way?' she asked.

'If you're quick' Kaori acceded.

'Sushi?' Elise asked hopefully.

Kaori rolled her eyes in disbelief, 'I dunno if they do takeaway… but we can always try, I suppose'.


	5. Chapter 5

Even before the taxi had pulled up outside the cinema Elise had known that something wasn't quite right. Kaori had gradually grown increasingly lethargic since they had left the hotel and when they had emerged from the darkness of the theatre room Elise had been astonished at just how pale and clammy the other girl had become. Kaori had made a brave effort to dismiss her condition as just a chill but had collapsed outside on the pavement shortly thereafter. Elise had immediately called for an ambulance and had stayed close, trying her best to provide words of comfort to her friend, but secretly terrified herself, as Kaori's eyes had glazed over, her breath coming in short, rugged gasps, and she had curled up into a ball, groaning in agony. When they had made it to the hospital and the doctors had clapped eyes on her, their faces had become almost as grey and taunt as Kaori's and Elise had known that that it was bad. After having put Kaori on oxygen and pain relief an elderly doctor with silver hair had told Elise that all the symptoms indicated poisoning. He had asked her if Kaori had eaten or come into contact with anything unusual in the past few hours. All Elise could suggest was the mushroom omelette (she had considered the champagne but had logically ruled it out) and at the doctor's request she had gone back to the hotel to retrieve it. When she had handed it over to the hospital staff, still sitting on its silver plate, they had immediately whisked it off downstairs to the laboratory for analysis.

Now she sat anxiously waiting in a small side room, shivering mildly from the shock and exhaustion of the whole affair, gripping a plastic cup of coffee. She felt shattered but wouldn't contemplate going back to the hotel. As she waited and the hours crept by she found it harder and harder to keep alert when finally, shortly before midnight and just as she was starting to drift off, slumped sideways in the uncomfortably rigid waiting room chair, the elderly doctor returned. Elise felt a chill flow down her spine as Detective Callory followed him into the room.

'Is Kaori ok?' she asked, her voice tight with worry, looking expectantly from one man to the other.

'Yes, Kaori will be ok now, she's sleeping at the moment' the doctor reassured her calmly. Elise heaved a sigh and looking skyward she thanked every divine spirit that popped into her head.

'What was wrong with her, was it the mushrooms?' she questioned.

'No, the substance we found didn't come from the mushrooms; it came from the plant 'Atropa belladonna' or more commonly known as deadly nightshade. The tropane alkaloids of this plant are extremely poisonous, only a small amount is enough to kill an adult human but luckily your friend only ingested enough to make her very sick' the elderly doctor replied.

Elise shook her head, her mind going numb, refusing to accept what she was hearing. 'Y- you m-mean… Kaori was poisoned?' she stammered, her throat contricting.

Detective Callory stepped forward, 'Yes indeed, Miss Nishidake is lucky to be alive, if she had ingested anymore she probably would not be alive at this moment' he said gravely. 'Given that all the evidence points to the fact that Miss Nishidake was deliberately poisoned we are treating this as an extremely serious case of attempted murder and I was therefore hoping to ask you a few questions' he continued, pulling out the same notepad and pen from his coat pocket.

Elise had a giddy sense of deja-vu; she thought it probably looked mighty suspicious that she always happened to be on the scene when bad things happened. She nodded and sat back down.

'Good, firstly where did the mushroom omelette come from?' he started.

'The hotel kitchen I guess, I mean I ordered it from Room Service' Elise began, and then she reeled backwards as the realisation struck her like a physical blow: the omelette had been meant for her, she was meant to have eaten it and if she had she would probably have been dead by now.

'Miss Riggs, can you think of anyone who might have done this?' Detective Callory's asked, stirring her from her morose reflection.

'No' she replied huskily, her mouth going dry, 'I mean I've had a few wrangles with a couple of people on the circuit over the years, Allegra and Marisol mainly, but it was just over trivial things.'

'Would you mind if I took my forensics team back to your hotel room and had a look around?' the detective asked solemnly.

'I guess not' she agreed reluctantly. Elise didn't like the idea of strangers traipsing through her room, but if it helped to find out who was out to get her, then she'd have to agree.

'It might be for the best if you moved to another room for the time being' Callory advised sombrely.

Before leaving the hospital, Elise insisted on paying Kaori a quick visit, to set her mind at rest, but the sight of Kaori lying there hooked up to all sorts of beeping machines was hardly reassuring. The Japanese girl was still white as a sheet and Elise would have thought her dead if it weren't for the ever so slight movement of her chest up and down and the regular beeping of the heart monitor.

Elise remained silent as Detective Callory drove her back to the hotel and then arranged for her to stay in another room. As she stood waiting in the lobby a couple of women wheeling compact black suitcases behind them appeared and began chatting with the detective. After a few minutes he left the two women and came back over and handed over her new key card.

'I'm going up now with forensics' he told her motioning towards the two women officers, 'you might as well try and get some sleep, I'll get an undercover officer stationed on your floor for protection for the time being, and if you think of anything, call me' he urged. He left her to rejoin the two women and lead them to the elevators.

After purchasing a bottle of water from a nearby dispenser Elise made her way wearily up to her new room on the third floor. Not having anything to change into, and not even caring, she climbed onto the bed. Crawling under the covers she wrapped her arms across her chest, hugging herself; for the first time in her life she felt truly scared. She lay there for what seemed like hours, her thoughts haunted by how close she had come to death and blackness, Kaori's ghostly pale face swimming before her eyes until she finally fell into a restless sleep.

It seemed like hardly anytime had passed before a persistent knocking infiltrated her dreams. She wondered vaguely what time it was and looking out the window noted that the sun was already high in the sky. She got up and opened the door to find an exhausted looking Detective Callory.

'Is Kaori ok?' she asked, her heart jumping into her throat, fearing the worst.

'Yes Miss Nishidake's fine, she woke up around half an hour ago - can I come in?' he asked and Elise obligingly opened the door wide for him to enter.

'Sorry to disturb you but Miss Nishidake gave us a name: Nate Logan; apparently Mr Logan was hanging around in the sixth floor corridor yesterday when she'd got out of the elevator. She said he cleared off as soon as he'd spotted her but at the time she had just thought he might have been trying to pinch the champagne from the service trolley.

Elise frowned; she had always known Nate to be a total sleaze-ball but a killer?

'The problem is, we don't have any concrete evidence - no prints, no DNA and no witnesses apart from this one lead. We brought Mr Logan in for questioning this morning, bit of a shifty fellow if you don't mind me saying, but he wouldn't say anything - insisted on having his lawyer present. In any case he is the only thing we've got to go on at the moment and if it is him we need to find out before he has the chance to do anything else' He hesitated for a second before asking his next question. 'I heard that you've had acting experience and was wondering if you might be up to helping us out?' he asked hopefully.


	6. Chapter 6

By the afternoon the sun had been veiled by dull grey clouds, bringing with them intermittent showers of snow. As the cold flakes caught in her blonde hair Elise stood waiting, apprehensively fingering the small lump in the collar of her back turtleneck jumper. To her it had seemed too tiny by far to be able to do what they claimed, but they had been insistent that it was in fact an ultra sensitive microphone that was capable of broadcasting a signal in a five hundred metre radius. 'Please Miss Riggs, if you could desist from touching the microphone' came a slightly annoyed, tinny voice through the concealed transmitter in her ear. 'Right, sorry' she muttered apologetically, bringing her hand back down to her side. There was silence for a few minutes 'Ok, everything appears to be working correctly - you may proceed now… unless of course, you've changed your mind.' For a split second Elise was tempted to call the whole thing off. She really wasn't relishing the task at hand but they hadn't any firm evidence to pin down Nate and, if it was him that had tried to poison her and had sabotaged Mac's board, then she wanted him locked up behind bars where he belonged. 'No, let's do this' she said, her voice firm. As she crossed the tarmacced parking lot she passed the old weathered wooden sign indicating the direction to the best lookout spot over big mountain glacier, the largest glacier on the peak. However, with the deteriorating weather the last few tourists where quickly packing up their things into their station wagons.

Taking a deep breath Elise pushed her way through the heavy oak doors of the tavern, part of her glad to be inside and out of the snowfall. Nate Logan came immediately into view, sitting at a table by the widow along the left hand side, both feet on the a table as he leant back on his chair sucking on a milkshake and browsing through what looked like the latest top shelf adult magazine. How typically Nate, she thought to herself; he looked just like a big kid.

Detective Callory had instructed her to behave normally but even with her acting experience she was beginning to wonder if she could pull it off, she knew that Nate was no fool. Steeling her nerves she walked over and settled down into the chair opposite.

Nate lowered his hands and peered at her coolly over the top of his magazine; if he was surprised to see her alive at all he didn't let on one bit.

'Ready to ditch the brain dead loser now that he's gone and got himself banged up in the slammer, have we?' he said obnoxiously, oozing with egotism, 'decided to join the winning side?'

Elise didn't bother replying; better a brain dead loser than a murderer as far as she was concerned. She picked up a straw nearby and started to twirl it nervously around her fingers.

'I just had to get out of the hotel to clear my mind, so much weird stuff has been happening lately' she said trying her best to sound genuine. 'First Mac and now Kaori, I just can't help thinking about it. Thing is I'm beginning to wonder if it was really Psymon who sabotaged Mac's board - I mean what if he was set up?'

Nate grunted dismissively and returned to inspecting his magazine. Elise carried on regardless, 'everyone is so sure he did it, but the thing is, I've never ever seen Psymon doing any technical work on his board, he doesn't have the patience for it and leaves that sort of stuff for Bob at the repair shop' she paused for a moment, convinced she saw the magazine twitch briefly in his hands, 'I mean, the CCTV doesn't really prove anything, if could have been someone else dressed up in Psymon's clothes'.

Finally, Nate put down the magazine and rocking back on his chair, he scrutinized her suspiciously, his eyes narrowing menacingly. Elise held his stare, forcing herself to keep calm. 'You think you're so smart playing detective and all, don't you?' he said, shaking his head with disdain.

'You're doing great, keep going' Detective Callory praised her directly into her ear but Elise swallowed before pressing on, 'I went to visit Psymon in jail and he told me something interesting. His mother makes him take elocution lessons over the Internet'

'Why am I not surprised?' Nate sneered, 'If you ask me it's a miracle the guy can actually talk.'

Elise gave his remark no notice, 'anyway, his laptop is set up with a webcam for him to record himself practising, but he often leaves it running while he's out. The sessions are automatically backed up to an online database. Anyway he was sure the webcam would have been on when whoever it was planted the evidence in his room.'

Nate stared at her silently as she continued.

'…so I downloaded a copy of the video file this morning and I'm going to give it to Detective Callory,' Elise continued,

Nate's eyes snapped to her bag as she reached down to it and pulled out a shiny disk. She held it up and flashed in front of his eyes. Everything she had said was complete rubbish, the disk was blank but she was hoping that Nate would take the bait. As she had expected, Nate snatched the disk out of her hand.

'Come on Nate, I've seen the video' she lied further, 'So why did you do it?' she asked bluntly. Nate paused for a few seconds then, his face contorting into a mask of rage, he leant across the table stopping a few centimetres from her face. 'You stupid bitch, you have just eaten that omelette I had it all planned out perfectly and then you had to go and ruin it' he snarled spitefully. Elise blinked, surprised at how easy it had been to get him to come clean. 'That Psymon is so thick, I heard from Moby that they had to explain what sabotage meant before he could plead his innocence, and to think that the police are convinced he's responsible!' Nate snorted with disdain. 'Never bargained on me did they - I set it up perfectly for him to take the fall, telling him that you were fooling around with Mac on the side, he just lapped it up and laid into Mac just as I knew he would' he gloated. Now that she had managed to extract what she was satisfied was tantamount to a confession Elise didn't intend on hanging about. She stood up abruptly and Nate followed suit, jumping to his feet and grabbing her roughly by the arm.

'Owww, Nate! Let go!' she protested, but instead he wrenched her arm back violently, sliding behind her and she gasped as something cold and sharp jutted into the small of the back. 'Stop that' Nate barked in her ear, 'unless you want to join your friends in intensive care' he threatened. Elise ceased her struggles, not willing to take the chance of finding out if he was bluffing. 'Don't make a sound' he warned. 'Now move,' and with that he prodded her forwards towards the exit with the knife.

Elise half-walked, half stumbled out of the tavern, her legs stiffening with fear. It was still snowing heavily outside and now a thick fog had moved in, swathing them in its misty folds as they stepped outside. From behind Nate steered her around the back of the building and onto the glacier ridge trail. By this time Detective Callory had clearly realised things had gone wrong as Elise could hear him shouting for backup at the other end of her ear-piece. She wondered how long it would take for anyone to get to them. After several minutes they came to a place where the trail wound behind some pine trees and Nate came to a halt. Elise knew she needed to stall him.

'Why did you do it Nate?' She asked, frantically trying to make time.

'Do you realise how it feels to get so close but never get to be the one standing at the top of podium, clutching that gold medal?' he raged.

Elise shook her head absent-mindedly, glancing around desperately for any sign of help.

'I could dominate this circuit, race, freestyle…everything and I deserve to' he continued ranting, 'I've been training so hard the last few years, getting my times down, perfecting new tricks, but in the end it still wasn't enough.'

Still holding her tightly by the arm Nate moved them a few steps nearer the edge and stole a fleeting glimpse down at the sheer drop. Turning her head to the side Elise glimpsed the huge stretching glacier spread out beneath them several hundred metres; it's white surface cross crossed with numerous deep crevices. 'Looks high enough, I'll just tell them that we went for an afternoon hike, the weather turned bad and sadly you slipped and fell' he stated cheerily. A streak of burning terror rushed through Elise as she realised what he was planning. 'Nate, don't do this…,' she was pleaded, her voice strained, yet determined to fight if she had to.

'What did you just think I'd spill everything and then let you go happily on your way?' He gave a twisted laugh, 'you must be as big an idiot as Psymon.'

Finally, in the encircling mist she could just make out the faint outlines of approaching figures, they made no noise, their footfalls silent in the heavy snow. Moving quickly, they soon became clear and opaque and, by the time Nate realised something was going on, the police officers, armed with handguns, were no more than a dozen metres away.

'Put the weapon down' the lead marksman commanded, training his gun on Nate. Nate reacted instantaneously; pulling Elise to his chest he brought the knife to her throat. Elise froze; hardly daring to breathe she closed her eyes and prayed that things wouldn't end badly. She could feel the razor sharp edge grazing her skin. 'Back off' she heard Nate shout.

Opening her eyes she watched, the dread mounting in her stomach, as the marksmen slowly lowered their weapons and shuffled backwards, losing definition as they were once again reclaimed by the swirling mist. _Don't leave me_, she screamed in her mind, _don't leave me here with this maniac_. She wanted to reach out after them but dared not move. Just before they faded altogether the officers stopped.

There was a heavy silence with nothing but the frantic beating of her heart and Nate's rugged breathing in her ear. Then finally he lowered the knife from her neck. 'It wasn't meant to be like this' she heard him mutter melancholy and she felt his other arm loosen around her as he took a step backwards towards the cliff edge. _No you don't, _she thought angrily, _there's no way you're going to get off that easy, not after what you've put Mac and Kaori through' _and, as he shoved her forwards and took the final step back off the ridge Elise sprung into action. Hooking her foot around a protruding rock, she twisted her body round and lunged out, catching hold of Nate's ankle. She held on for only a few seconds and then found herself sliding forwards over the edge. Just as her torso swung into mid air and she was seriously considering letting go she felt an arm wind around her knees and she found herself being hauled steadily backwards. She kept a firm hold on Nate as they were both pulled back onto solid ground and safety.


	7. Chapter 7

The golden medals glinted in the sunlight as Elise flipped them over in her hands, examining the intricate mountain terrain engraved upon each one along with the official SSX logo. It had been another good year, one she could be proud of, not only had she survived - which was always a good thing- but she had also reinforced her reputation as one of the world's top snowboardcross racers. She even thought that Psymon had come to accept the end of their so called relationship quite well, after he had stopped swearing and throwing chairs around the hotel lobby. Even though she knew she'd probably change her mind later on, now at least, she was glad that Psymon had been freed from remand. Granted, Mac still wasn't speaking to her; the few times he had hobbled past on crutches, he had just given her a mean stare. But, on the plus side, Koari had made a full recovery and had even managed to bag a couple of silver medals of her own in the last few racing events.

Elise placed the medals carefully in her suitcase on top of the piles of neatly folded clothes and zipped the case closed. Then, tugging the heavy luggage off the bed, she strode confidently out into the corridor, wheeling it behind her. Her recent brush with death had had an invigorating effect on her and imbued her with a renewed joie de vivre. She was already looking forward to the future; investing her hard earned prize money in new business ventures, assembling the new spring collection for her clothing line, maybe a bit of modelling and then a whole summer aboard her private yacht sailing the wide oceans.

There was only one dark cloud to spoil this perfect vision: her parents and their lengthy divorce settlement battles. However, she had realised that Skye was right: in time she would get over it; it would just take a hell of a lot of surf, sun and snowboarding to get there.

* * *

THE END


End file.
